Let’s talk about Work
Introduction to the series
Allow me to assert that our society and culture are centred around work. While some people are enjoying their work, for many others having a job and going to work is considered a ‘necessary evil’, a necessity to earn wages with little incentives other than remuneration.
For some, going to work every day can often be boring, routine, degrading, tiring, stifle creativity and even feel unnecessary, while for others a job can be interesting, meaningful, and rewarding.
Work also serves as a source of identity — many will name their job when they are asked to describe themselves in one of the top 3 descriptions (together with age and family status).
When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, the question often implies what kind of job they want to do when they grow up. If the answer is not a paying job, the person asking the question will usually dismiss the answer with a laugh.
Most people who are going for higher education are actually training for a future job rather than getting an ‘education’ or gaining knowledge. Many who elect to study in the fields of humanities often encounter the question “What are you going to do with this degree” or one of its variations, referring to prospective jobs.
The transition from childhood to adulthood is regularly marked when a person finds a paid job and assumes the ‘responsibilities of the real world’.
Work is where we spend most of our time, from around the age of 20 to retirement age, many people will spend most of their waking hours working. The time spent is not just the time we are at work itself, but also the time spent travelling to/from work, unwinding from work, and preparing for the next working day.
In prosperous societies a job (and its remuneration) will be used as social status, a measurement tool to be compared with other people, a way to get social recognition and respect.
In most contemporary societies, there is an unwritten social contract that every person (able and capable) is expected to take up a job as one becomes an adult. Having a job is tightly coupled with being a (productive) member of society, unemployed people are considered by many as freeloaders; there’s a perceived division of “makers and takers”.
All the above are just pointers, each one deserves much more discussion and elaboration in its own right. Considered together, I do believe they support my initial assertion that we live in a work-centered society.
In this series ‘The Future of Work’ I would like to look at some work-related topics:
- The distinction between work and job
- The role of having a job as a source of meaning, recognition, and social status
- Job as a ‘time-thief’
- Technological unemployment (massive loss of jobs due to technological changes like automation, robotics, machine learning, AI, 3D printing and IoT)
- Universal Basic Income (UBI) and is it a cure-all response?
- Rethink the future of work
Few more thoughts to end this first introductory post in the series
There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about attitudes towards work, whether concerning inequalities, reducing/increasing the working week (different views in various countries), gig economy, job insecurity and more.
The prevalent view is that unemployment is something every society should fight with the ‘solution’ being putting people back to work. Work is assumed to be part of normal life, essential for a functioning society.
I do accept that it is very hard to discuss this taken-for-granted attitude toward work without having a larger discussion about the economy, capitalism/socialism, consumerism, education, and social order to name a few. However, I find it hard to accept that we consider a society where most of the people work most of the time as a successful one or something that we desire.
For our future, I believe we should have an open and global discussion about work, its role in our lives as well as its purpose and meaning.
Let’s try and imagine together a future where society is not centred around work.
A future where people derive meanings and pleasures outside of life governed by work, a future with more free time, and the freedom to pursue dreams and ambitions and fulfil our potential.
